With the annual SUMA (Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association) meeting just over a month away, communities throughout the province have prepared resolutions for the body to vote upon, and this year two of the more than 20 resolutions have been forwarded by area communities.
The town of Lampman is championing a resolution which seeks to push the federal government to provide a tax benefit to volunteer firefighters.
As stated in the official resolution, 91 percent of all communities in Canada rely solely on volunteer fire services to provide fire protection.
This significant number represents a total of 78 percent of all persons in the country.
With increasing work demands for many of the volunteer firefighters, it is reportedly becoming harder and harder to attract new volunteers, as well as retain experienced ones.
"We've been seeing it all over the place," said Grant Palmer, who championed the resolution to Lampman council. "All these people have jobs, and it is tough to just take off and run when a fire happens."
Palmer, a grain farmer who is actually a member of the council for RM 34 Browning, decided to bring the resolution to Lampman council after a similar motion had been carried at the SARM (Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities) annual convention late last year.
"In principal it is the same resolution, but the SARM members wrote some changes in," Palmer explained. "They changed the hour requirement from 200 hours annually to 100 hours in their resolution."
The resolution being forwarded by Lampman requests that the federal government provide an income tax incentive for volunteer firefighters in the amount of $3,000, should the firepersons put in at least 200 hours a year between training and emergency response.
"This type of incentive will help us attract and retain volunteers for our fire services," Palmer said. "It is really important to keep our communities safe, and if you think about it, the nearest professional, full-time fire service near us is Regina."
"The volunteers are really important to our communities, and this way they would have the opportunity to get a little extra support."
Palmer, himself a volunteer firefighter, gives credit for the idea to another volunteer fireman, Brian Bentley of Saskatoon.
"Brian was the one who started pointing out how important volunteer fire services are to our communities both here in Saskatchewan, as well as Canada as a whole," Palmer said. "I've been in contact with him since we started pushing for this resolution, and he was really the motivator for this in a lot of ways."
As a tax credit, the firefighters would only see a direct benefit if they earned enough in a year that they would have $3,000 or more in taxes on their income.
"It isn't a handout," Palmer said. "This is a benefit that will really help our people who have full-time jobs that they are working, and help to justify their volunteering with their local fire service."
In Carlyle, the issue of railroad land has led to a resolution being tabled to clarify and simplify the process through which municipalities deal with railroad companies when local improvements are planned for areas abutting railway property.
